FBI charges 30 in decade-long law-firm insider ring

The FBI Boston Division charged 30 people on Wednesday in a decade-long insider trading ring that used stolen deal documents from U.S. law firms to trade ahead of nearly 30 mergers and acquisitions, federal prosecutors said. The indictment alleges the scheme generated tens of millions of dollars in illicit profits and that investigators are tracing funds through foreign accounts and shell entities.

Prosecutors identify licensed corporate attorney Nicolo Nourafchan as a central figure who allegedly accessed his firm’s internal systems to view confidential M&A materials. Charging papers say Nourafchan shared non-public information with co-conspirators, including attorney Robert Yadgarov, and that the conspiracy spanned about 10 years and roughly 30 announced deals.

Arrests were executed Wednesday in Alabama, California, Florida, New Jersey and New York. Nineteen defendants taken into custody face criminal counts that each carry a maximum sentence of 25 years. Two defendants are believed to be in Russia and Israel and remain at large, according to court filings.

The indictment alleges conspirators moved trading profits through brokerage accounts linked to shell companies and to accounts in Russia, Israel, Panama and Switzerland. Investigators say the group used burner phones, encrypted messaging applications and coded language to conceal communications. Charging documents quote members referring to a transaction as a “sick rabbi awaiting surgery.”

In announcing the charges, FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Ted E. Docks warned: “Anyone who engages in insider trading fundamentally undermines the trust necessary for our financial markets to function.” Authorities said they will continue to follow the money through overseas intermediaries as the investigation proceeds.

Federal prosecutors said the case focuses on alleged breaches of confidentiality at professional gatekeepers, specifically lawyers and law firm systems, rather than corporate insiders. The filings note the government has applied misappropriation theories of insider trading to a range of asset classes in recent years; a 2022 case resulted in the conviction of a former digital-asset employee who pleaded guilty and received a 24-month prison sentence and forfeiture of digital assets.

The investigation remains active. Prosecutors are tracing transactions, seeking to recover ill-gotten gains and pursuing additional leads that could result in further charges or arrests.